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Liberated inmates tell of 'dark age' under Gadhafi

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Published : Aug. 31, 2011 - 19:56

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 TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- When Said Abdullah arrived in Libya's notorious Abu Salim prison in 1996, he said he was ``welcomed with blows and torture'' for membership in an Islamist group. He was held in a small cell with 12 others, no mattresses and one squat toilet they had to unblock with their hands.


In this Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011 file photo, Libyans search for documents inside Abu Salim prison, Libya's most notorious prison of Gadhafi's regime and the scene of a 1996 massacre of prisoners, in Tripoli, Libya. (AP) In this Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011 file photo, Libyans search for documents inside Abu Salim prison, Libya's most notorious prison of Gadhafi's regime and the scene of a 1996 massacre of prisoners, in Tripoli, Libya. (AP)

In 2006, he was sentenced to death for membership in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamist organization that plotted to assassinate longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He was put in solitary confinement for a year and a half. At one point, he didn't see the sun for three months and his daily meal was sometimes nothing more than a piece of bread.

Fifteen years on, he thought he would die behind bars.

Then without warning last week, something unimaginable happened: Neighbors stormed the Tripoli lockup and used rocks and metal bars to smash the locks off cell doors. Abdullah and thousands of other inmates were suddenly free in a city that was being upturned by a rebel takeover.

At first, Abdullah was confused when he heard pounding on his cell door on Aug 24.

``Where were the warden and the guards? And who are these people with the weapons?'' he wondered. Then his cell door swung open. All at once, he realized he was free and hitchhiked home to his family's farm on the outskirts of Tripoli.

``I saw that the whole street was full of rebel flags and heard lots of gunfire,'' he said, smiling widely as he recalled the scene. ``But everyone was greeting us and saying, 'Those are prisoners from Abu Salim!'''

The regime's loss of control over Abu Salim _ where for decades Gadhafi had locked up and tortured opponents, or made them disappear _ ended a dark chapter in the country's history and was a stark illustration of how quickly the regime collapsed.

The liberation of the prison also closed a circle. The first demonstrations of Libya's uprising in mid-February demanded the release of a lawyer who represented families of prisoners killed in a 1996 massacre inside Abu Salim.

When the uprising broke out in February, Abdullah was sharing a five-by-six yard cell with four others, one of whom had gone insane from the treatment inside, he said. The group had satellite TV and avidly followed the news. But after about a month, as the uprising evolved into an armed rebellion, the guards abruptly cut the cable.

Later, when inmates heard gunfire outside, the guards called it fireworks.

On Aug. 20, four days before they were liberated, NATO bombed a prison administration building, Abdullah said, and the inmates stopped getting food, indicating the staff had fled.

The prison break came as an invading rebel force was sweeping Gadhafi's 42-year-old regime from the capital. At that moment, rebels were fighting fierce battles with Gadhafi loyalists holed up nearby in residential buildings of the Abu Salim neighborhood.

People living near the prison heard the guards had left and a small group went in. They found only a few guards, who quickly fled, and started forcing open the cells. Crowds from the neighborhood came to help.

On some prison walls, they found elaborate pencil drawings. Once carried the phrase: ``The End of the Dark Age.'' It was dated during the uprising.

``This is the prison that created terror in Libya,'' said Mohammed al-Burki, 32, whose brother Abdel-Hakim was among 1,200 prisoners killed in the massacre _ the government's response to a prison riot. ``This place is a tragedy for all the Libyan people.''

Al-Burki spoke inside the prison's looming walls, where he sifted through documents searching for clues to his brother's grave. Piles of flour sacks stuffed with files reached the ceiling in a nearby room. At least two more rooms were similarly jammed with paperwork.

Libyan security arrested Abdel-Hakim in 1989, Al-Burki said, at a time when Islamist groups were trying to overthrow Gadhafi. His government responded with sweeping crackdowns. Al-Burki said his brother was not an Islamist, but prayed regularly in mosques, which raised suspicions.

If Abdel-Hakim was tried, his family never heard. Prison visits were not allowed.

Then came the massacre. News of the killings were slow to emerge, and it was more than a decade before the government began informing families that their relatives had died. Al-Burki's family didn't learn of their brother's death until 2007, he said _ even though they'd been bringing food and clothes to the prison for him for years.

Many of the families went to court to demand information, and the government promised them cash to drop their cases. Many refused, wanting retribution, not money.

Rights activists see the prison as a symbol of what went wrong under Gadhafi's rule. The prison showed ``the strength of the security services and the irrelevance of rule of law,'' said Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch, who visited the prison in 2009.

``The fall of Abu Salim is a test,'' she added. ``The real challenge here is to end everything that Abu Salim represented.''

For Akram Ramadan, the prison is the place that destroyed his father, a scientist locked up 1984 for plotting to kill Gadhafi.

After sentencing him to death, his captors made him write his will, took him to the firing squad, put a black bag over his head, then fired in the air.

``My dad said, I dropped and thought I was dead until someone came and started kicking my backside, saying, wake up, you're still alive,'' he said.

The prison drove him crazy.

``My dad went inside as a quantum physicist and came out a fool,'' he said.

Rebel officials have been too busy trying to hunt down Gadhafi and the remnants of his forces to come up with a plan for the site _ or even send guards to protect it.

Curious onlookers roam the sprawling grounds, peeking in cells for hints at how the inmates lived.

The cells range in size, with thin mattresses, a squat toilet, basin, shower and heavy metal door. Some have carpet and hanging milk boxes to hold toiletries.

The administration buildings have been burned, and looters hauled away chairs and water heaters.

Amnesty International warned Monday that evidence inside could be key in future trials of Gadhafi-era officials and in determining the fate of those who disappeared inside the prison.

``All efforts must be done to secure it so that the truth can be established and those responsible for abuses held to account,'' the group said in a statement.

Abdel-Rahman Nofal has an idea for the site's future.

A high school geography teacher who had always hated Gadhafi, he joined anti-government protests in Tripoli early in the uprising. After security forces opened fire on protesters, he worked underground near his home, collecting cash to be delivered to rebel fighters in the western Nafusa mountains.

The night of July 17, a group of armed men arrived at his house and took him, his brother and their uncle into a truck with about 40 others to Abu Salim.

``They tried to lock up as many people as they could because they knew that with what was happening, all the youth would become rebels,'' said Nofel, 48.

Guards stripped them to their underwear when they arrived and beat them with metal rods and electrical cords, he said. He was crowded into a small cell with 10 others. Each day, the guards would summon a few for interrogation. They came back hours later with bruises across their torsos and small red sores from shocks with electric rods.

The airstrike on Aug. 20 shook the walls, he said, and they received no more food. Four days later, with the men so dizzy from hunger they couldn't stand up, they heard cries of ``God is great!'' as residents stormed the ward. Soon, they were free.

``It will become a prison for them,'' Nofel said of Gadhafi-era officials. ``Or we'll turn it into a park or a playground.''

 

<한글기사>

리비아 감옥: '속옷만 입힌채로 쇠파이프, 전기봉으로 매질'


리비아의 무아마르 카다피 정권이 무너지면서 카다피의 억압적 통치를 상징하던 트리폴리의 악명높은 교도소 아부 살림도 함께 무너졌다.

지난 24일 아부 살림의 굳게 닫힌 감방문들은 들이닥친 시민군의 손에 자물쇠들 이 박살 나면서 활짝 열리고 수감자들은 아무런 제약 없이 거리로 걸어나왔다.

사이드 압둘라도 그들 중 한 사람이다.

이들 한 사람 한 사람의 사연과 그들이 감옥 안에서 겪은 고통은 그대로 리비아 의 '암흑 시기'를 증언하고 있다.

1996년 이 감옥에 수감됐던 그는 지난 15년 동안 자신이 풀려나지 못하고 교도 소 안에서 죽게 될 것으로 생각했다.

이슬람교도 단체에 가입했다는 이유로 체포된 그는 아부 살림에 이송되자마자 구타와 고문으로 환영을 받았다.

그는 조그만 감방에 다른 12명과 함께 수감됐다.

감방 안에는 깔고 누울 매트리스조차 없었으며 쭈그려 앉아 볼일을 보는 변기 하나가 있었고 이 변기는 수감자들이 맨손으로 청소하고 관리해야 했다.

그는 카다피 암살 계획을 세운 리비아 이슬람 전사 그룹의 일원이라는 이유로 2 006년 사형 선고를 받았다.

이때부터 1년 반동안 그는 독방에 수감됐으며 3개월 동안 해를 보지 못한 적도 있다.

그의 식사는 온종일 빵 한 조각이 전부인 날도 있었다.

이런 아부 살림의 몰락은 리비아 역사의 어두운 한 페이지가 끝났음을 의미하며 카다피 정권이 얼마나 급작스럽게 무너졌는지를 보여준다.

지난 2월 리비아에서 대규모 시위가 일어났을 때 압둘라는 4미터Х5미터 크기도 못 되는 감방에서 다른 4명과 함께 지냈다.

이들 중 하나는 감옥 안에서 미쳐버렸다고 그는 말했다.

이들은 당시 위성 TV를 볼 수 있었으며 뉴스를 열심히 시청했다.

그러나 1개월 후 시위가 무장 반란으로 확대되면서 간수들은 TV 케이블 선을 잘 랐다.

이후 밖에서 총소리가 들려오자 간수들은 폭죽 소리라고 얼버무렸다.

이들이 시민군의 손에 부서진 감옥에서 걸어나오기 4일 전인 지난 20일에는 나 토(북대서양조약기구)군의 공습으로 교도소 관리 건물이 폭격을 받았고 이후 수감자 들은 음식을 받지 못했다고 압둘라는 전했다. 간수들이 도망갔던 것이다.

교도소 근처에 사는 주민들은 간수들이 떠나는 소리를 들었으며 이후 많지 않은 사람들이 교도소에 들이닥쳤다.

그때까지 도망가지 않고 있던 몇 안 되는 간수들도 이때 달아났고 감방문을 잠 그고 있던 자물쇠는 부서졌다.

인근의 주민들이 몰려와 죄수들이 스스로 나갈 수 있도록 도왔다.

모하메드 알부르키(32)는 이 교도소에 대해 "리비아에서 테러를 저지른 감옥"이 라고 말한다.

그의 형제 압델하킴은 이곳에서 자행된 대학살로 사망한 1천200명 중 하나다.

리비아 정부가 죄수들의 폭동에 대해 무자비하게 대응하면서 일어난 참사였다.

알부르키는 그의 형제가 어디 묻혀 있는지에 대한 정보를 얻으려고 교도소 안에서 서류 뭉치를 뒤지고 있었다.

서류뭉치가 담긴 밀가루 부대들은 한 방의 천장 가까이 닿을 정도로 쌓여 있었다.

압델하킴은 이슬람교도 조직들이 카다피를 제거하려 하던 1989년 체포됐다.

알부르키는 압델하킴이 이슬람교도 조직원도 아니었으며 다만 매일 이슬람 사원 에 나가 예배를 드리는 독실한 신자였을 뿐인데 이로 인해 의심을 샀다고 말했다.

그의 가족들은 이후 압델 하킴의 소식을 듣지 못했다.

면회도 허용되지 않았다.

이후 앞서 말한 참사가 벌어졌다.

가족들이 소식을 들은 것은 2007년이 되어서였다.

여러 가족이 법원에 정보 제공을 요구하는 제소를 했지만 카다피 정부는 소송을 취하하면 현금 보상하겠다는 말로 회유하려 했다.

기족들은 그러나 돈보다 이들이 죗값을 치르기 원하며 정부 제안을 거절했다.

아크람 라마단에게 이 감옥은 아버지를 파멸시킨 곳이다.

과학자였던 그의 부친은 1984년 카다피 암살 음모에 가담한 혐의로 체포됐다.

그에게 사형선고가 내려진 후 간수들은 유서를 쓰라고 했으며 총살 형장으로 끌 고 가 머리를 검은 자루로 덮어씌우고 허공에 총을 발사했다.

그의 부친은 쓰러졌고 죽었다고 생각했지만 누군가 다가와 등을 발로 차며 죽지 않았으니 일어나라고 말했다.

이것이 라마단이 아버지에게 들은 이야기이다.

그의 아버지도 감옥에서 실성했다.

라마단은 물리학자였던 아버지가 감옥에서 나올 때는 미친 사람이 돼 있었다고 말했다.

고등학교 지리교사인 압델라만 노팔은 최근에 이 교도소 경험을 했다.

그는 카다피 정부군이 시위대에 총격을 가한 후 시위대를 몰래 지원하는 일에 가담했다.

7월17일 밤 일단의 무장한 사람들이 그의 집에 들이닥쳐 자신과 형제, 숙부를 40명 정도 되는 다른 사람들과 함께 태우고 이 교도소로 들어갔다.

간수들은 이들에게 속옷만 입힌 채로 쇠 파이프와 전선으로 매질을 가했다.

노팔은 다른 10명과 함께 한 감방에 수용됐다.

간수들은 몇몇을 매일 불러내 신문했고 이들은 몇시간이 지나서 상체 곳곳에 멍 이 들고 전기봉 충격으로 생긴 작은 붉은 반점을 지닌 채 돌아오곤 했다.

8월20일에 교도소 벽이 흔들리고 며칠 동안 먹지도 못한 채 이들은 8월24일을 맞았다.

허기로 어지럼증을 느껴 일어서기도 힘든 상황에서 이들은 "신은 위대하다"는 외침과 함께 감방 안으로 몰려들어 온 인근 주민들을 보게 됐다.

노팔은 이제 이 감옥이 카다피 정부 관리들을 집어넣을 교도소가 될 것이라고 말했다.

그렇지 않으면 공원이나 놀이터로 개발될 것으로 그는 생각한다.